Call forwarding and call blocking are well known telephony services provided to subscribers by a local exchange carrier in circuit switched networks. Traditionally, call forwarding allows a subscriber (or user) selectively to “program” an incoming call to be forwarded to another communication device; call blocking, on the other hand, prevents an incoming or outgoing call from being completed.
As previously mentioned, call forwarding is a generally recognized calling feature provided in circuit switched networks and, as such, has been the subject of many prior art references. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,384, entitled “Personalized Automatic Call Routing,” by Sanford J. Morganstein, issued on Jun. 25, 1991, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a system where the subscriber can preprogram the communication system to provide personalized voice responses and alternate destinations to assist the calling party in completing the call. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,691, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Call Routing in Switched Digital Networks Using Call Control Tables,” by Steven Price, et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, provides tables of call control information to facilitate the routing of calls in a switched digital network.
Regarding call blocking features, call blocking features have also been the subject of prior art references. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,388, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Selectively Blocking Incoming Telephone Calls,” by James C. Reed, et al., issued on Nov. 14, 1995, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a system that allows a subscriber to selectively block incoming calls for selected time periods or during programmed time intervals to screen out unwanted calls from a particular caller or location. Obviously, the aforementioned U.S. patents are only examples of references directed to telephony services in circuit switched networks.
Internet telephony applications are becoming an attractive alternate for conventional telephony services, primarily because of the promise of substantial reduction in communication costs. There are currently no long-distance charges associated with Internet telephony. Furthermore, there are a large number of applications and new multimedia capabilities available on the World Wide Web. The Internet “telephone” with a computing device, e.g., a personal computer, often employing a packet-based technology, provides the caller with a greater flexibility and control as opposed to the traditional telephone devices.